Iran mosque fire casualties mostly women
February 15, 2005 - (Sydney Morning Herald)
A fire in an Iran mosque that killed 59 people, most of them women, began in the segregated women's section, emergency officials said.
More than 250 people were injured in the blaze that raged through the Tehran mosque after a female worshipper's veil caught fire from a kerosene heater, Iran's official IRNA news agency said.
The Arg Mosque was filled with about 400 worshippers, more than usual because of the Islamic month of Muharram, a holy time for Shi'ite Muslims.
Fire brigade officials said the fire broke out after evening prayers in the segregated women's section of the building, located in the capital's Grand Bazaar.
IRNA said the fire started on the upper floor of the mosque.
The flames spread to a thick green cloth that covered the ceiling and walls of the mosque in commemoration of the holy month.
Panicked people raced for the doors and smashed windows to escape the blaze, one witness said.
Women, who prayed on the second floor of the mosque, had to go downstairs and through a narrow doorway to get out.
Many were trampled in the stampede.
"Pieces of burning cloth fell on the head of the worshippers, who stopped praying and smashed windows to run out of the mosque in panic," the witness said.
The mosque walls were charred, carpets were burned and religious books, including the Koran, were destroyed. Burned shoes and women's black chadors left behind by fleeing worshippers were scattered in the mosque yard.
Tehran police chief Brigadier General Morteza Talaie said the death toll was 59.
Rescue workers were quoted as saying more than 250 people were injured.
Hospital records checked by The Associated Press showed 40 of the deaths and most of the casualties were women.
Police would not allow reporters to get close to the scene of the fire.
A Deutsche Presse-Agentur photographer at the scene said parts of the building had collapsed and the roof was destroyed.
Built during the first Pahlavi dynasty about 80 years ago, the mosque was classified as a national heritage site.
The tragedy comes on the fourth day of the month of Muharram, which commemorates the seventh century death of Hussein, grandson of Islam's prophet Muhammad.
During the first 10 days of Muharram, special mourning ceremonies are held after the evening prayers.
The mosque is close to the historic Golestan Palace where Reza Khan was crowned as Reza Shah Pahlavi in the 1920s and the huge Tehran bazaar, the heart of business in the capital.
Fires involving kerosene heaters are common during winter.
Last month, 13 elementary school students died in a fire that started after a malfunctioning heater ignited a barrel of kerosene.
From: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=37727
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